'VENTURA' HIGH? WAY!

Pedigrees don’t always count. Despite director James Brooks’ string of illustrious credits (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News), his latest, I’ll Do Anything, opened to a middling $4.7 million. The Hollywood-set, father- daughter comedy starring Nick Nolte was upstaged-not only by My Father, the Hero, the Bahamas-set, father-daughter comedy starring Gerard Depardieu, but by Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the weekend’s upset winner, which corralled a whopping $12.1 million. Though critics had dismissed the picture, that hardly mattered to its teen audience, which transformed star Jim Carrey from a shaggy-dog contender into a purebred prizewinner. WEEKEND TOP 20 GROSS WEEKS IN GROSS* TO DATE RELEASE